8PM TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24TH 

HEARTS OF DARKNESS:

A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE
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With the impending release of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola's self financed 120 million dollar potential masterpiece / disaster-piece Megalopolis, and it's accompanying discussion / bizarre controversy surrounding it's production, we take a look back at the king of all madcap Coppola productions with this remarkable film documenting the sheer insanity surrounding the production of Coppola's undoubted 1979 masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. 

 

Combining archival footage shot by Francis Coppola's wife Eleanor and interviews shot later with those involved in the making of the film such as Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, George Lucas, John Milius, & Martin Sheen, 'Hearts of Darkness' delves into the psyche of an artist on the edge as Coppola wrestles with his famed uncompromising artistic vision in the face of a $31 million dollar (easily $200+ million in today's money) production of staggering technical and physical complexity.

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Filmed in the forests of Philippines, the production deals with everything from severe shooting conditions and cast and crew problems, to life threatening illnesses and natural disasters, all in pursuit of Coppola's mad undefinable vision of a Vietnam war epic that has become both the textbook example of late 70s filmmaking excess, as well as one of the towering achievements of America's golden age of modern cinema.

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Truly one of the great films about filmmaking, the descent into near madness for Coppola is fascinating to watch as he chases his vision and nearly loses all sense of reality in an up river journey into the jungle almost as bizarre and wild as the ones experienced by the characters in the actual film. 

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Also available is a discounted joint ticket for this screening and our November 29th screening of 'American Movie', a profoundly funny and beloved cult documentary about a young filmmaker with no less ambition but far less money (approximately $3000) attempting to shoot a horror film in mid 90s Wisconsin, only to a face a series of hopelessly hilarious setbacks. 

8PM MONDAY SEPTEMBER 30TH 

DRIVE AWAY DYKES

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Yes, that's right, we are using the original title. Drive Away Dykes or as it was stupidly re-christened by the movie studio, Drive Away Dolls is the product of legendary director Ethan Coen (who with brother Joel, created the likes of Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O' Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country For Old Men and many more) working with producing partner Tricia Cooke, doing what a Coen does best, a superlative comedic crime caper.

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When the free spirited Jamie (Margaret Qualley - Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Poor Things) breaks up with her girlfriend (Beanie Feldstein - Ladybird, Booksmart) she decides it's time to take her demure (possibly uptight) housemate Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan - Hala, Bad Education) on a road trip to Tallahassee. But things do not go as planned when the two inadvertently get tangled up in a ludicrous criminal plot that involves everyone from Pedro Pascal to Colman Domingo to Matt Damon. This quickfire little gem of a star studded queer road trip movie combines both that familiar off beat Coen Brothers feeling we all know and love as well as delivering a fresh, slickly delivered, cheerfully trashy B-movie vibe, with lots of goofiness and lots of sex.

7.40PM THURSDAY OCTOBER 17TH

GLORIA (1980)
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Originally announced by us back in May, this screening now becomes an unintended tribute to the great Gena Rowlands who sadly passed away on August 14th of this year. One of the great actresses of her, or indeed any other generation, starring in films such as Woody Allen's Another Woman and Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth.

 

This gem of a movie is the product of Rowland's husband and collaborator John Cassavetes. A renowned actor himself (Rosemary's Baby, The Dirty Dozen), Cassavete's was also a revered writer / director and considered a true filmmaker's filmmaker creating such uncompromising classics as Husbands and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. But for both Rowlands and Cassavetes it was their husband & wife collaborations that would become their most successful ventures with dense but highly rewarding masterpieces like Opening Night and A Woman Under The Influence. This film was initially designed by Cassavettes as a commercial script to sell to a major studio for others to make, but when Rowlands was cast, Cassavetes could no longer resist taking on directorial duties.

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A remarkably off-beat crowd-pleaser, Gloria is the most unusual of commercial movies with all the character, style and oddness one might expect from Cassavete's channelled into a heart-warming, dramatic and charming piece of popular cinema. Rowlands, as ever, gives a barn burning performance as a woman who accidentally becomes embroiled in a Mafia beef when her next door neighbour's family is targeted by the mob. Begrudgingly Gloria takes on the families characterful six year old Phil (a wonderfully idiosyncratic performance from child actor John Adames in his only ever screen role) as the two go on the run and try to avoid a string of gun toting Mafiosos. 

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A fabulously effervescent document of a now lost New York,  bravura camerawork by cinematographer Fred Schuler (who also shot Scorsese's The King of Comedy) captures the raw charm of the city and the film's cast. Don't miss a chance to see Rowlands redefine the so called 'tough broad' female screen presence as she channels the likes of Cagney and Bogart whilst still bringing her own characteristic modern off-beat style to this remarkable landmark one woman tour-de-force.

8PM FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29TH

AMERICAN MOVIE
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One of the funniest, most heartfelt and enjoyable documentaries of all time

​now celebrating it's 25th anniversary 'American Movie' (winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival) centres on young Wisconsin filmmaker Mark Borchardt who along with friend Mike Schank are attempting to make low budget horror movie 'Coven'. 'Attempting' being the operative word. Armed only with determination and a $3000 loan from his uncle, a combination of mishaps, mismanagement and sheer ineptitude lead to a catalogue of hilarious filmmaking disasters.

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Here director Chris Smith, who went on to create a string of successful docs that include 'Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond' (the doc about Jim Carrey playing Andy Kauffman in Man On The Moon), 'Fyre' (about the failed Fyre Festival), 'Sr' (about Robert Downey Jr. and his father, Robert Downey Sr), the recent 2023 Wham! doc and an upcoming 2024 DEVO doc. crafts one of the most beloved, intimate and amusing docs of all time in 'American Movie'.

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This bittersweet doc about a would-be director and his bumbling but loyal friend is surprisingly funny, touching and a real love letter to the burning sense of ambition that fuels every true filmmaker as well as a loving and joyous portrait of two hapless friends chasing their dreams. 

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Also available is a discounted joint ticket for this screening and our September 24th screening of 'Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse'. Charting the infamously over-budget out of control 1979 shoot of Francis Ford Coppola's cinematic masterpiece Apocalypse Now. Encountering one monumental setback after another and fuelled by a burning desire to create something remarkable, Hearts of Darkness is American Movie writ large, and charts the very same filmmaking passion at the exact opposite end of the scale.